India to boycott Sri Lanka Premier League

Sri Lanka's IPL-style T20 tournament, the Sri Lanka Premier League, has yet again been dealt a crushing blow. India will not allow its players to participate in the tournament which will be launched in August.

Last year, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) postponed the launch of the tournament after India refused to send its players. SLC, who appeared to only view the tournament as a means to generate revenue, were not interested in conducting what is a local tournament if India's players, who draw in vast sums of money through TV rights deals and advertising, were not present.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly not keen on allowing any of their stars to take part in T20 leagues in other nations.

"They (SLC) did approach us but we may not be in a position to send our players," an unnamed BCCI official was quoted as saying by the Times of India today.

While SLC is yet to release an official statement on this recent development, an official speaking on the condition of anonymity said: "We will go ahead this time without India."

The tournament has been plagued with controversy and SLC officials have faced criticism over their handling of the tournament, as well as the signing of a 15-year deal with a previously unknown company in Singapore.

The agreement signed between SLC and the Singapore-based Somerset Entertainment Ventures, who essentially have control of the entire tournament, was subjected to an investigation by the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE).

well i look at this with optimism. given the corruption and mismanagement in SLC i hardly think this would be any good to the cricket in SL. Also the men at SLC are extremely incompetent that this might end up being a loss and our reputation (if there is any) will be damaged.

"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly not keen on allowing any of it's stars to take part in T20 leagues in other nations."................but they want other players to put a side their national duties and play in their hot garbage IPL. As far as I know IPL is popular because of the Foreign players if not for them, the so called IPL is no better than the domestic league Ranji trophy.....

Firstly this is not surprising.
Secondly I think after having postponed the tournament once for this reason, they shouldn't do the same again. It should go ahead as scheduled.
We need to stop this public image of us going down on our knees and begging the BCCI for everything